Rating: 11/23 I hear a lot of praise here and there for both this and Early Times (which weirdly both have names that mean pretty much the same thing). I got Early Times, didn't like it, and then it grew on me. It still isn't good whiskey, but I was intrigued, so I grabbed a bottle of this as well. Let's see how it is. N: It has a lighter nose than Early times does, with a bit more spices and cereal, but less oil and fruit. There's this lightly malty creaminess to the nose as well. Being faint and light, the result is thoroughly uninspiring. There isn't any problem with alcohol presence though. P: I get some caramel here, but it's generally a pretty light palate. There's a lightness to the caramel that makes me think a bit of just sugar and it comes with a faint cereal note that blends nicely into the mild, smooth creaminess. There's some vanilla in with the creaminess and a light, faintly fruity tartness rounding out the palate along side a nice dash of spices. The mouthfeel is moderate, which works well enough. This isn't awful by any means, but this is one of those ones that is more of an introductory bourbon or the type of thing that you throw in a mass-produced cocktail for a party. It actually reminds me a bit of a scotch, strangely enough with this soft creaminess. The light flavors aren't really anything I particularly like and it's hotter than Early Times despite being more lightly flavored, but it still doesn't have much alcohol presence despite its mild flavor, so that's quite nice. F: The creaminess lingers. This is possibly the best part of the experience because the creaminess just lingers on and on. The tartness stays at first, but it quickly drops out. There's some vanilla and a light general sweetness from the caramel lingering as well. This is a different experience than Early Times, but both fill the niche of a $10 mild bourbon that is friendly for new drinkers and easy enough to just drink if you really don't want to analyze your beverage. I'm pretty on the fence between them, but I'm currently leaning a hair toward Ancient Age. Ancient Age does better if I haven't had anything to drink right before it. Early Times, on the other hand, benefits from its full oiliness if it has to compete with a more robust bourbon, such as Wild Turkey 101, preceding it. I'm thinking 9 to 11 on this. A 10 to 11 seems most appropriate since I like it a little bit better than Early Times. I think the gap is large enough that I need to go with 11.